LAND VALUES 93 



this is too uncertain. As a matter of fact stumpage prices range 

 all the way from $1 to $6 per M with $3 a high average. 



Expressed in terms of man hours and horse hours per M the 

 costs of an average operation would be as follows: 



Man hours Horse hours 



Felling and bucking 2 



To mill 7 i^ 



Milling 4 



13 IS 



Railway hauling is only about half labor costs so that man hours 

 are of little value for it. 



Land Values. — Besides its value for the production of timber 

 yellow pine land can frequently be used for agriculture. For 

 this purpose, however, it cannot have more than a 5 per cent 

 slope because otherwise it caimot be irrigated and will not " dry 

 farm " well by reason of the rapid drainage. But if fairly level 

 the land can be used for any crop suited to the climate. In fact 

 much of the homesteading in the foothills of the Rockies has 

 been done in this type and very good results obtained where there 

 was opportunity to irrigate. The cost of clearing the land for 

 cultivation is not excessive because there are relatively few 

 stumps. Fifty dollars an acre ought to clear and fence such 

 land and the net annual returns should total $5, so that its pro- 

 ductive value at 3 per cent would be over $100. 



As a private investment the growing of yellow pine is not 

 attractive. Even with a stand of 15,000 board feet in 100 

 years and interest at 3 per cent a reasonable return cannot be 

 secured. Where other considerations enter, however, the returns 

 are well worth while. For example, the National Forests yield 

 not only timber but watershed protection for the irrigation 

 interests and support annually^a large number of cattle and sheep. 

 Hence from the pubHc point of view the highest use to which any 

 of the yellow pine land not fit and needed for tillage can be put 

 is the raising of timber as the main crop. It would therefore 

 appear that land of this type should not be cleaned for tillage 

 imless it can be irrigated or dry farmed. The tendency has been 

 to clear up more land than can be properly farmed. 



